The plan that Aleister and the others had come up with was simple in design if not in execution, for it was obvious that due to the Lull, the demons of the various, different hells had been coerced into helping the Demon of Light that was manifesting into the world. Therefore in order to defeat the Demon of Light and cast it back into the Sixth Circle of Hell, the Hell of Light, all the God Squad had to do was break the control that the demon had over the rest of its kind. With this fact at the core of their plan and the knowledge that they couldn’t let the Demon of Light manifest completely into this world, Aleister, Edward and Lillian had devised a strategy, one that would enable both the God Squad and the human army to enter the City of Dead Blood and emerge alive and well.

And victorious!

So now Aleister marched, towards the western side of the city, at the head of the main body of the Western Army with Lillian striding alongside him. The two of them were planned to be the distraction for what Edward, Io and the select few soldiers would do in the shadows of the city.

“It’s okay to worry,” said Lillian as she glanced sideways at Aleister as the two of them walked across the sand as if they were standing on solid ground.

Pausing to let the humans catch up to them, as they lagged behind, Aleister looked to his right where the train tracks ran across the golden road that flowed with telesma.

“I’m not worried about Edward. At least that’s not the entirety of it,” said Aleister as he heard Lillian give a short chuckle. “It’s them I’m worried about, the army, after all they’re trained to deal with mundane warfare, not demon incursions.”

“It can be a terrible burden to bear the weight of all their lives on your shoulders,” said Lillian slowly as she gave Aleister a quick surveying look, “but you let them choose to walk into Hell. You didn’t order them, you didn’t force them, and they will follow you, because you offered to let them stand next to you as equals.”

“Yeah and if I didn’t, they would have known in their hearts when they fought with Mirror’s forces that they were only there to be a shield of meat, blood and bone for those who wield true power,” said Aleister, his head downcast in sorrow.

“You have a kind heart,” said Lillian as she gripped his shoulder, before she raised his head up with her hand, “but this needs to be done and the plan, one you came up with I might add, the one born from the experiences that you accumulated from your journey, well, that plan is magnificent. And if even half of it works then you’ll still fulfil your promise. You will show this dragon why man is to be feared.”

“Everything okay?” asked one of the majors who had caught up to the duo.

“Everything’s fine,” answered Lillian as she turned to look the major in the face, their brown and bronze eyes meeting, allowing her certainty and authority to weigh on the major so that he was bowed back by the raw majesty she possessed.

“We were just talking about how once the second stage is commencing, Aleister will need my help setting up the necessary geometric magic to siphon off the telesma and send it into Edward’s construct,” said Lillian as Aleister looked up at the major and the army behind him, his face once more the mask he wore around his brethren.

Analysing what Lillian said, the major seemed to taste the words on his tongue before speaking.

“The seraphim can’t do it himself,” stated the Major, leaving the words up for interpretation about whether he was asking a question or simply repeating what Lillian had said.

“Not all seraphim are perfect at everything that we do. Just like everyone we have strengths and weaknesses,” said Aleister as he gave the man before him a glare at the implication that his kind was perfect beings without flaws.

Seeing the response that Aleister gave while Lillian looked on with a sharp gaze, one that would call down a dragon’s fury should the major make a wrong decision, the major simply smiled a grin of true mirth.

“It’s good to know that you’re human under all that gold,” said the Major as he nodded his head in Aleister’s direction. “I’ll return to my unit and hurry them along, but the footing is proving difficult especially with how the sand could become a swarm of demonic glass at any minute.”

“No rush,” said Aleister as he turned his attention to the city before him where the Demons of Sin, War and Faith wore the bodies of men and women that they had possessed and used to travel to this city in the middle of nowhere. Men and women Aleister planned to save. “We don’t want to get there too early. Else we might be in battle for a while.”

Nodding his head, the major walked away to tell his men to continue on, while Aleister and Lillian watched the city with wary eyes. Both were hoping that the Demon of Light would take awhile to emerge into this world as neither knew how they would go about defeating such a being, knowing only how to break the summoning that was pulling the demon from Hell and causing it to physically and truly manifest in this world.

“What about Jane and Grey, do you think that they will really do what you guessed?” asked Lillian at last, as the army caught up to them.

“I’m not too sure about Jane, but in the long run I think she seems a bit like wildfire at times, uncontrollable and chaotic yet predictable if you know what you’re doing. Grey is the one I’m really gambling with,” said Aleister as he looked for signs that his fellow squad members had been through here or even that they were still alive.

“Madmen can be hard to predict,” said Lillian as she checked over a few items that she had scattered across her person.

“No, you only saw him fight Hawk, and the only reason he was caught wrong footed there was because he’s used to enemies that fight more with their innate powers than technology and skill. In a battle, where he’s in his element, he fights either as a cold hearted machine or as a wild, mad beast, never in-between or as both,” said Aleister, correcting Lillian.

“And which one do you hope he’s going to be in this situation, the cold machine or the fiery beast?” asked Lillian, genuinely curious regarding what Aleister wanted.

“If possible I would like the madness, for when he’s semi-sane he can be just as wicked and devious as a demon,” said Aleister as he thought back to the town of Symir and what had happened in it and Aleister had to wonder how much of it had been planned by the Mad Paladin.

Hearing this, Lillian had to narrow her eyes as she looked out at the city and wondered to herself whether the reason the city was so quiet was because Grey had yet to reveal himself. Or if it was because somewhere in the city built for vampires, with its twisted, complex and sun hidden streets, Grey prowled and preyed on the demons, never letting them know that he was amongst them and that he was killing them quickly and with relish.

“We’re almost in range of the city. Come let’s set up the area so that we can commence the bombardment at a moment’s notice,” said Aleister as he followed along in his own head, sharing the thoughts that Lillian was having, all the while wishing that Grey would cause a commotion and draw the demons to him if only to prevent the demons from finding Edward and Io already within the city limits.

Striding forward, Aleister had to wonder as he walked would they win and if they did what would the world be like thereafter. Pondering the future battle and what it in turn could lead to, Aleister walked with Lillian and started to help set up the cannons and other telesma crafted ordnances that would soon fill the skies with the sound of war. Which Aleister hoped would draw the demons away long enough for Edward and Io to infiltrate the heart of the city to find out both how to stop the summoning, and how and where to put the rune work so that Edward could break the demon’s lullaby.

Arriving at the south east of the City of Dead Blood, Grey attacked.

He attacked with a swift and certain calmness that made many of the demons wonder if he was truly human. For even in their dulled minds they knew it took a certain type of man to wantonly kill and destroy demons wearing human beings, as often the humans would attempt to save the ones that were being possessed.

Yet Grey never hesitated, not even when Demons of Sin, who enjoyed wearing females, wept and begged, or when the Demons of War cried out challenges that would normally have made warriors pause. Grey didn’t even falter when the Demons of Faith tried to trick him into believing that he was truly cutting down helpless civilians undermining his faith in his actions and deeds. Instead, Grey simply danced from demon to demon, a swirling mass of golden telesma that cut and cleaved through all that was stupid enough to try and halt his advancement through the demon ranks towards the prize of the Demon of Light. And as Grey advanced through the demon’s ranks, his face filled with delight and his echoing laughter filled with glee at the slaughter he committed.

The demons’ minds woke from their lull to emotions of fear and dread at what they stood against. These emotions of fear and dread didn’t last long before they turned to rage and fury, with the first to attack the Mad Paladin being the Demons of War, some of whom jumped at Grey, their hands and arms wreathed in wicked, green Infernal Fire.

Seeing that the demons had been roused to battle, Grey’s smile threatened to split his face in half as his eyes seemed to become wells of madness that made the Demons of Sin and Faith draw back in horror. For the Mad Paladin was an inversion of everything that they were, having no faith to subvert or corrupt and no sins or desires that could be twisted into something else. He was pure madness, a soul broken into something that no demon could change or tempt.

Watching the Demons of Sin and Faith cower away from him, Grey failed to recognise that he had become something even demons feared. And as he swung his sword to disembowel several Demons of War that had rushed in, the Knight of Vengeance continued forward uncaring that his golden armour was being dyed red like the wings of the angel that he drew power from.

Seeing their fellow Demons of War gutted with ease, the remaining Demons of War in the area drew up weapons. Some created swords, axes and spears from the sand beneath their feet, while others had already come with their own armaments that gleamed with deadly intent, bladed weapons that emitted corporeal fear and promised wounds that would never heal.

Untroubled by the promise of death, doom and worse, Grey continued to charge into the amassed demons, a laugh upon his lips and a smile across his face all the while bleeding joy into the air. Yet deep within Grey there was another emotion, one of longing. A desire to reach the Demon of Light and see whether this demon or others like it had been the one that he had met so long ago, the one that had ruptured his soul.

As the Demons of War fought against Grey and were cut down by him, the Demons of Sin and Faith also began to attack Grey, having taken longer to recognise the threat before them and to shake off the fear and awe they felt for the mass of madness in the golden paladin armour. The Demons of Faith called up missiles made of acidic hellmist. While the Demons of Sin summoned other demons, Demons of Earth and Life, as well as using their power to corrupt and alter the items at hand to create unholy phenomenon that would leave the laws of reality crumbling. The Demons of Sin wrought with their power and unique natures from the Sins of Sentience. The Demons of Sin were not about the base sins of sloth, gluttony, greed, envy, wrath, lust and pride, the sins of the soul. The Demons of Sin, those born from the twisted afterlife called Hell, were those that possessed the ability to create, to change and to make deals, all in the name of the Sins of Sentience, the dark and twisted act of daring to alter the world, whether by overturning the basic creation of fire or by stealing the ability to create gods.

Whereas, the Demons of Faith, while making hellmist, also tried to corrupt the earth, marking it for other demons to come into, a feat that caused other demons still under the Demon of Light’s control to quickly kill the now freed Demons of Faith. An act that Grey knew was born from the fact that the Demon of Light couldn’t risk other demons arriving here outside of the Demon of Light’s control. These newly freed demons, not under the Demon of Light’s control, were set as a main priority to kill. As demon killed demon, Grey’s smile threatened to morph into a sadistic glee due in part to the fact that he no longer needed to even fight at his hardest, for the demons were clearing a path to his goal all on their own.

A few of the Demons of Faith saw that their brethren were being killed by demons from different circles and let out howls of rage. Throwing off their control lull, these Demons of Faith turned to attack Demons of War and Sin who dared to harm their own kind. Warping reality, the Demons of Sin raised up their hands that had once been holding simple items, items like letter openers or flintlock lighters. They then changed these simple things into weapons that cut through all matter and set what remained alight with but a single click of the flint.

Uncaring about what was being wrought before him, Grey surged forward lopping limbs and legs off, completely ignoring the unique and dangerous natures of the weapons and devices he left bloodstained on the ground next to their dying creators. The Demon of Sin, who had morphed the letter opener into a sword that could sever matter on an atomic level, thrust the blade out, clearly untaught in the skills of battle and war. For Grey simply stepped aside allowing the blade to harmlessly pass by his right side, which allowed Grey to sever the arms and legs of the female Demon of Sin.

Stepping past the Demon of Sin, Grey simply bent his head to dodge a stream of fire that flew past his head. With a quick glance at this new Demon of Sin, who had turned the flintlock into a flamethrower, Grey simply swiped his sword in the direction of the demon and said demon’s head was consumed by a stream of golden telesma. Collapsing due to the body’s headless state, Grey pushed the corpse out of his way with but the faintest of pauses to hint that he had pilfered something from the demon he had beheaded with golden light.

Continuing on even as other Demons of the Third, Fourth and Fifth Hells swarmed around him, Grey didn’t care as his blade danced again and again, leaving a field strewn with the remains and severed pieces of demons and their human hosts. For everything in Grey’s mind was bent on the one goal he currently possessed, to reach the Demon of Light that held the possible answer to what he had seen on that day all those long years ago. This sense of euphoria and urgency was what made Grey forget to kill the demons he left broken and bloodied behind him as he tore into the mass of demons that tried with all their might to prevent the Mad Demon Hunter from attacking. Not because they were loyal to the demon that had stolen their freedom from them, but out of fear that when Grey’s sword broke them, they would be cast back into Hell. And the demons feared that after they were returned as broken shells of what they once were, they would be consumed either by other demons or by Hell itself.

“That’s some pretty impressive madness you’ve unleashed. Iblis would be impressed,” said a voice from one of the nearby buildings, a voice that Grey recognised with instant clarity, and a voice whose owner warranted undivided attention.

Spinning to look up to the roof of the building that Ulkry was standing on, Grey snarled at the Demon of Faith, for Grey knew that Ulkry would impede his journey to the centre of the city and prevent him from meeting the Demon of Light.

“No need to be rude,” said Ulkry pleasantly as the demon turned its new head and body to look at the blood soaked ground behind Grey and all of the demons that lay there.

Trembling, the demons didn’t move, none of them were anywhere near important or powerful enough to have ever stood in front of a king of Hell and now that they were, they knew that they were damned. Crinkling its face in disgust, Ulkry blinked and with the swiftness of thought, blades made from hellmist sprung into being and impaled themselves through the flesh of the demons’ heads. Feeling them die, Grey barely glanced over his shoulder at the dead demon vessels before returning his attention back to the Demon King before him.

“You killed them, why?” asked Grey curiously as he sensed that there was something more that was happening in this City of Dead Blood than what he had first assumed.

“Because they were a message and a warning to others, as well as something to make those that were gathering here wake from their lull and realise the trouble the traitor has brought down upon them,” said Ulkry with a grin, as the face of the female cleric it was wearing distorted into something ghastly.

“Traitor?” repeated Grey as he began to understand what was happening here.

“Yes. Sung, the Demon of Light, that is currently trying to manifest into this world, is a traitor to his king Abraxas, and a traitor to the rest of Hell’s denizens. Especially since he created this farce and attempted to manifest here without the permission of his king,” said Ulkry with rage echoing through the female cleric’s voice, so that it sounded like the voice of the demon within. “But I guess it doesn’t matter in the long run. Soon Sung will cease to exist either at my hand or at Abraxas’.”

“The Demon King of Light is coming here,” stated Grey with true surprise tinging his voice.

“Yes, Abraxas will be here soon. Truthfully, old enemy, I should be the one to stop Sung, but you and that connection you bear with the Angel of Death is too much to overlook,” said Ulkry as he peered down at Grey with the face of the pretty, female cleric he was wearing giving a beaming, bright, sunny smile.

Turning away, Grey looked towards the summoning site and with a simple shrug of his shoulders he began to walk towards Sung.

“You would ignore me?” asked Ulkry, either in shock or amazement.

“Make your move and I will counter, but in the end you’re not the prize. You’re merely a distraction from what lies ahead,” said Grey, not bothering to even slow his pace as he marched towards the demon summoning. “Besides what if you fail the King of Light and let Sung escape. Won’t Lucifer be so very disappointed in you?” asked Grey with a sly smile as he turned his head to look over his shoulder back at the demon garbed in purple and black robes.

Twitching, Ulkry contorted the face of its host before shaking his head in either disbelief or half-hearted acceptance.

“Yes, but Abraxas would only need wait for the next eclipse. And then he could manifest here permanently. And once that happens Sung can run to the other side of the world or anywhere beyond it, but Abraxas will win, in the end. Sung will be no more,” said Ulkry, the voice of the host dripping with faith, belief and a certainty that came from reciting the truth.

“I’m still not hearing a reason to fight you. If anything, I think I should stop this summoning from occurring, else there will be two Demons of Light running around the world,” said Grey with a backward wave of his hand as he continued forward towards his destination while the demons that stood before him were cowed by the fact he dared speak to one of their kings in such a manner.

“How about this then?” asked Ulkry, with a wicked grin, as the demon jumped off of the roof and gently floated down to the ground, behind Grey. “Which would you prefer some random new young demon or a demon king who has been around since the time before Hell was divided into circles? Which do you really think will have the answers you are looking for?” asked Ulkry, the demon’s voice laced with satisfaction knowing that both Grey and Ulkry knew that Ulkry was right.

Stopping, Grey bowed his head either in thought or in prayer.

“One question before we begin. How did you find a new host so quickly?” asked Grey as he stood with his back to Ulkry.

“Oh this,” said Ulkry, as the demon ran its hand down the body of the cleric it was currently wearing. “I have vessels stored in quite a few different Fallen Churches all over the world. The Degradation of Erosion I call it. My Marked Earth corrupts the concept of erosion itself so these bodies remain perfectly pristine no matter how long they are in storage for. If you don’t like this body I can jump into one of my others, male, female, sinner, saint....even children.”

Stopping, Grey’s body seemed to contort as if something were trying to break free from it, but as Grey turned to look at the Demon King of Faith, his eyes were something that made the demon host retreat a single step as fear laced through them.

“Fine, if we’re going to do this, lose the face,” said Grey as darkness fell across his face even with the golden armour glowing around him.

“You don’t want to harm a girl?” asked Ulkry in bafflement as he looked over at the legless and armless Demon of Sin, who Grey had left lying in a pool of her own blood, with the corrupted letter opener sword lying just in front of her, her hands still grasping the blade in the lung that had not only missed but left her open to being cut apart.

“No, I want to see your true face when I defeat you,” said Grey with relish. “Now fair warning, there are places and fates worse than Hell, in this world or any other. And this,” said Grey as he held the sword parallel to the ground, the flat of the blade facing Ulkry so that the demon could see it’s reflection in it, “is one of them.”

Gazing at the blade a little lost in its reflection, Ulkry slid his gaze up from the blade to Grey’s hidden visage. Making a decision, Ulkry reached upwards and ripped the host’s face off with both hands, revealing the same, skinless monstrosity that Grey and the God Squad had fought before, all the while black ooze melted the remaining flesh both on the face and on the hands of Ulkry’s host.

Standing around, the Demons of Earth, Life, Sin War and Faith stood stunned and rooted to the ground as they alternated between looking at Grey and Ulkry, unsure about what they were witnessing or even what they should do. Yet in the mind of each of the demons was a hunger, a desire to remain to watch to see the suffering that would be brought down on either Grey or Ulkry, or even both. Creeping forward, the demons scattered around drew closer, eager to see the horrors that would unfurl before them.

“When you’re ready,” said Ulkry simply, its arms wide, inviting and accepting, with the demon’s skinless face showing a smile that beckoned for Grey to come, for the battle to begin the end of their conflict.

Hearing that final line, Grey moved like a sudden wind. He moved like a living manifestation of madness, fluid and beyond definition. Swinging overhead with one hand, Grey sent Slaphmir plummeting down towards Ulkry who blocked with an almost casual manner. Blocking with two knives made from hellmist, Ulkry smiled as he looked at Grey, who stood close enough to touch the two of them locked in battle, which was why Ulkry couldn’t see Grey pull out the now cleansed lighter that he had looted from a dead Demon of Sin. Clicking the mechanism, Grey thrust his hand upwards, his eyes shutting even as the spark of light ignited into a beaming pillar of holy telesma infused light, a light that struck the eyes of the demons, scarring them into white orbs that would be blind forever.

Screaming in a chorus of pain, the demons collapsed and thrashed about, and Grey used that moment to break free from his locked stance with Ulkry whose own face was a blistering mess. Sliding backwards, Grey’s face, now visible, bore the cold hard glint of a machine, one who had a simple single task to do, to end the Demon King before him.

“Learned that trick from Jane,” said Grey with a savage delight. “Now then Ulkry, still willing to see the face of the Angel of Death, because-.”

Before Grey could finish his sentence, Ulkry attacked. No longer the demon that manipulated or fought for grand causes, this was Ulkry the demon bent on one thing; victory. For Grey had pushed Ulkry to the point where it had let go of its self control, where it was free to move as it desired, where it no longer needed to hold back to ensure that Hell’s agenda and purpose was upheld.

As Ulkry attacked, he shot forward to arrive before Grey with the swiftness of death and before Grey could defend himself with Slaphmir, swirling hellmist shot out and slammed into Grey, pinning and binding him in place. Roaring in fury and victory, Ulkry grabbed Grey by the head, while the black ooze from his hands melted and burnt Grey’s face.

Yet in that one moment, the thrill of battle and victory faded off of the blackened twisted visage into a sombre reflective expression, an expression that Grey even as his face melted and corroded, could see was one of regret. A regret born from the realisation that he had defeated his foe in an instant, and that, as always, victory was nothing but a hollow empty sensation.

Staring at the black orbs of Ulkry’s eyes, Grey saw something else. Something that made Grey wonder, even as Ulkry’s thumbs blocked his view, even as they pierced into his eyes burrowing and burning until there was nothing left, that maybe Ulkry did what he did not from rage or sadistic pleasure but from some terrible, dark sorrow. Feeling his face melt off of his muscles and even bone and feeling his eyes melt into nothing, Grey’s mind slid into a horrible clarity about the nature of Ulkry and what he had been born from. And if Grey still possessed tear ducts, he would have cried for the demon born from the sorrow of lost faith.

“Rest now, Grey Silverman, you have served well and faithfully, rest and be at peace. May the afterlife treat you better than this world ever did,” said Ulkry sadly and solemnly, as the demon began to clench its hands waiting to rip the skull of the madman before him into two uneven pieces.

All the while, Grey was still alive.

Hearing this one sentence, Grey couldn’t help but remember his lessons from long ago, of how Lucifer had pleaded with his fellow archangels to send the seraphs of Heaven down into the world of the living to save and protect mankind. How Lucifer had fought for his ideals and how he had broken Heaven in his desire to save man. Grey remembered that he had fallen and created Hell, but Grey also remembered a story that was heresy here in the Empire of Geb, a story that Lucifer had made Hell to create an enemy for man and angel alike so that they could and would be united by their common foe.

A story that told of Lucifer creating a race of beings that would be purely chaotic evil and would possess and travel the world bringing pain and horror to force mankind to unite or die out. And at the same time these creatures unable to travel through the Abyss between Heaven and Hell, could use the worlds of the living to invade Heaven or corrupt the souls to prevent them from ever reaching the fabled realm of peace. The tale ended with Heaven descending into the world of the living to prevent Hell from enacting their revenge on Heaven by attacking the world of the living, with Heaven never aware that this was Lucifer’s plan all along.

Grey had always believed that this story was a simple, mad tale, one told to him when he was young, but when he had battled Ulkry atop the train, Grey had remembered and knew in his heart this was why Ulkry did what it did. And while Hell might have evolved into something else that no longer functioned the way Lucifer had envisioned, Ulkry still had faith in the ideal Hell had been made from.

That was why he went around corrupting and destroying everything he could but only to a set extent. Why, despite Ulkry’s own nature screaming at it to cut loose and corrupt and debase the world, Ulkry had chosen to tempt mankind, to challenge their faith and see the worth of their heroes. It was also why he had said those words to Grey, for Ulkry had finally after untold millennia found someone who could not be corrupted, who could not be tainted or made to fall, and he now had to kill him, because he wasn’t a hero strong enough to truly stand and unite the world against Hell.

In the single instant that these thoughts and memories passed through Grey’s mind, Grey knew what he had to do, what actions he would have to take to show the demon before him that its faith in mankind would finally be rewarded. Roaring suddenly, Grey willed the telesma in the sword Slaphmir to travel through him and manifest into the world inside his eye sockets. Igniting into light, the thumbs that were where Grey’s eyes were meant to be were annihilated by the telesma that formed into golden balls of flame.

Stunned at the turn of events, Ulkry moved backward as its hands seemed to crumble into ethereal dust that floated away on the wind. Ulkry stared at the paladin, whose face had become a mask of twisted, black ooze, acidic burns and decay, while the area where, his eyes were meant to be, were eyeballs of flame that shone and made the demons behind Ulkry falter and turn away screeching in fright. Because, unaware to both Ulkry and Grey as they battled, the demons, that had lost their sight due to Grey’s improvised trick, managed to manifest new body parts that would enable them to see. Some had grown new eyes in places that didn’t belong, while others had made new ways to sense the world around them. Now every one of those demons beheld a creature that made them shudder and creep backwards in fear. Caring nothing for the plight of the demons around him, Grey instead focused on the area where he knew Ulkry to be.

“Do you know why I never had a helmet made for me?” questioned Grey, his voice managing to come out perfectly calm and collected even as the muscles that held his jaw together started to erode away.

A question met by a stunned, frightened silence from the myriad of demons in the street that Grey stood in.

“It’s because I’ve always wanted to do this, but I’m not nearly masochistic enough to destroy my own eyes. So instead I leave them free to be attacked, yet no matter what, either my own skill or my enemy’s incompetence makes it impossible for them to get both eyes,” said Grey as he gestured to his flaming eyeballs, “until today.”

Glowing brighter, the flames that had replaced his eyes reached a brilliance that made many of the demons cry out, all the while Ulkry looked on in wonder as if what he saw before him was something that he had never ever seen before. Throwing back his head, Grey began to laugh, his voice echoing out for all to hear, his laughter a mockery of all that the various different demons stood for. And in his madness, Grey didn’t even seem to notice that his jaw was corroding away and was barely still attached to his head. And neither did the demons around Grey, for his laughter struck at them both in its insanity and what it represented, a desire purely incorruptible and beyond sin. A promise not of war but of genocide, a one sided slaughter. And all that Grey promised in his one, singular, mad laughter was not faith in himself or in a higher power, it was merely stating a fact.

Letting the laughter simmer down, Grey swung his head down and his golden eyes made of holy fire erupted into a stream of golden flame that tore across the space between the Mad Paladin and the King of Faith. Striking the Demon King in the stomach, the golden beams tore through the demon severing it into two unequal parts, with the demon’s host lower body falling down to the ground, while the force of the blast seemed to keep the demon’s upper body aloft in the air as if suspended by the heat of the fire below it.

Even as the glowing beams of golden light dissipated and Ulkry’s upper body slowly fell to the ground, the demon smiled. For he had finally found something, someone who he could not corrupt no matter how he attacked, twisted or tried to taint. Grey in his madness remained pure and that for the Demon King of Faith was something very rare to see. So instead of raging or screaming out in fury that it had lost, Ulkry smiled and left its host to once again return to Hell, not caring about what its fate would be.

Hitting the ground, the dead husk of a body that had once housed Ulkry melted into a black sludge that so twisted and befouled that no one, not even the other demons dared to touch it. As the body bubbled and decayed even further, the eyes and other sensory organs of the surrounding demons turned from the ruin that had once housed one of their kings to look at the paladin that had cast him from the World of Geb. Standing there with his face something born from the realm of nightmares, Grey’s eyes, made from golden flames, ignited and spread outwards until the flames consumed his face, with the golden flames lighting up the street and making the demons cower back in fear and awe.

But this time the flames were not for attacking or destroying, instead they cleansed Grey’s flesh of Hell’s corruption and forged new flesh for Grey’s face. Each atom, each molecule, and each cell was constructed again from the fire. Looking like his face was burning off only in reverse, Grey stood still as the fire remade the lost skin and bone and eyes, all the while enduring the pain of feeling the intense heat of pure heavenly fire forge matter together.

With his mouth only slightly ajar in a smile that made the demons’ skin crawl, Grey stood still as the wounds inflicted upon him were undone. And finally as the last wisps of flames departed into the air, Grey looked around at the demons with new, blue eyes, gleaming with insanity and a promise of demise. Flexing his jaw to make sure that it was recreated perfectly, Grey looked down at his sword in his right hand. The golden blade hummed with a promise of death as if the seraph it was connected to was trying to force the wielder to act, yet Grey was untouched by the heavenly being’s desires.

Slowly and with a disturbing calm, Grey turned around looking at each of the different demons that were near him, before stopping on the strongest of the Demons of War, the only one that was still staring at Grey with hatred and a desire to do battle. Raising his left hand, Grey flexed his gauntleted fingers in a beckoning motion, one that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else, but a challenge to continue battle. Witnessing the challenge and knowing in the back of their minds that if they ran Grey would cut them down from behind, the demons gathered themselves together and prepared to face the golden, glowing paladin.

“Come Samael’s Scion,” screamed out the one remaining Demon of War, who still thirsted for battle, her voice filled with an eagerness that was heartfelt and genuine.

Grinning in mad delight, Grey raised the blade in his right hand and moved with striking speed so that he ended up impaling the demon through the chest. Widening his eyes as a low chuckle echoed out of his mouth, Grey sent the telesma from the blade flowing into the demon causing her to explode into various, broken chunks. Drenched in the dead demon’s red blood and looking more like the seraph that he drew power from, Grey looked for the closest demon so that he could continue his slaughter, knowing that each death brought him closer to the centre of town where the Demon of Light still tried to claw its way out of Hell.

~~~

Creeping through the shadows, Io and Edward waited with baited breaths as they saw demons scurry across the road up ahead. For while the Demons of Life wearing cats were horrific to behold especially with what they had twisted their bodies into, what made the duo pause was the thought that they would be detected. Yet, whatever had made the demons stir and become restless was something happening on the edge of town and so they hurried in that specific direction, with none of the demons having the semblance of mind to even bother to think about checking the area around them.

And while this was a boon for Edward, Io and her small elite forces, the fact that so many demons could be bound into such a subservient condition made all of those present that much more on edge. For to Edward, who knew about demons and the power they possessed as well as their inherent nature, the idea and the fact that there existed a being that could control so many different demons was one that instilled a certain feeling of fear. The feeling of fear, one had when one peered into the unknown.

But for Io and the other humans that had accompanied Edward into the city, the reason they were on edge was because they knew that they didn’t understand their enemy, and that they were walking blind into a minefield where even a simple pot plant on a ledge could be the enemy that alerts others. If not outright killing them before they could even realise what they had stumbled upon. Pausing Edward held his hand up over his shoulder to signal that the others should stop, and while the soldiers were amused by the outdated signal, they halted in their tracks all the while waiting for the very earth itself to become their enemy.

“We’re approaching the centre of the town,” said Edward as he pointed in the direction that the team was heading. “Once there I’ll get an idea about how the Demon of Light is being summoned and once that’s done we’ll move out to the designated spots that I will mark out for you. When you reach these locations create the runes and circles that I give you and try to make them perfect,” said Edward, his demon voice adding emphasis to what he was saying.

His very voice driving home the point that if even one of them failed to mark the ground with paint the right way, then the town would end up as a massacre. Although every one of the elite soldiers was aware that the massacre could end up being either the Western Army or the demon horde and it all depended on how badly they underperformed.

“We know what’s at stack,” whispered Io as she looked around, searching for a sign to mark out if any enemy was nearby.

Hearing the challenge and the unwavering strength in her voice, Edward wanted to smile but he was aware he didn’t have the facial muscles for it so he simply nodded his head, before a thought entered his mind.

“What do you see when you look at the demons?” asked Edward softly, knowing that if he phrased the question poorly they might misunderstand what it was he was asking about.

“What do you mean?” asked Io as she shifted her attention back to Edward, clearly aware that there was a deeper meaning to his question.

“When you looked at that Demon of Life, the cat that just walked by, what did you see? Colours that shouldn’t have been there, shadows dyed the wrong colour, or an aura of fire that shone without lighting anything else around it?” asked Edward as he listed the different types of ways that the true nature of a demon could bleed through for those that had the ability to see such things.

“You’re trying to find out if any of us can see demons without it being obvious,” said Io, more for her soldiers benefit than her own.

Thinking quickly, Io looked back down the path to where they had seen the demon possessed cat and tried to recall something that was telling about it other than the fact that its fur looked like it had been made from needles.

“I saw a blue afterimage,” said Io, a trace of uncertainty in her voice as if the image in her head was already a fading dream.

“That’s a new one,” mumbled Edward as he blinked rapidly to show his shock at the fact that Io appeared to not only see demons in a different way than the more common manners described in his books, but also that she was clearly able to see demons with a certainty and accuracy that rivalled the seraphim.

“What made you ask?” asked Io once again, discerning that there was more to the question than an errant thought.

“Aleister saw that some of your soldiers were beginning to attack demons before they had even formed properly. Not to mention they had already learned the best way to attack the type of demons that was forming. So Aleister informed me and thought that I should check to see if anyone here had the same talent,” said Edward earnestly, “because if you do, then attacking and tracking the demons around town will be extremely simple. Not to mention the boon it will offer to those that have to go out and mark the runes.”

Quickly consulting amongst each other, the group realised that about half of those present were able to see some form of tell that gave the demons away. And with this discovery, the group was divided into pairs with at least one member of each pair possessing the power to discern demons from the mundane world around them. Sorting the matter out quickly and quietly, the group set off once more to recon the summoning sight to give Edward the knowledge needed to see how he would both break and banish the Lull and the demon that sung it.

Moving through the darkened streets, Edward noticed that the streets were tall, narrow and strangely lit. Looking up he saw that the streets were covered over with sheets and veils that seemed to block out the sunlight, yet at the same time left enough light and illumination in the streets so that the soldiers could see clearly in front of them as if they were in direct daylight. Edward had to wonder what the purpose of it was, only for him to remember that this was a city built by vampires, for vampires. Edward had to wonder if there were still vampires in the city and what they were doing, because from his brief encounter with them it was clear to Edward that they could and most likely would be attacking and defending their home from the demonic threat.

“What has you worried?” asked Io as she matched her pace with Edward as they continued towards the pillar of light rising from the city centre which, as they drew closer, became apparent that the light caused nothing to cast a shadow.

“The vampires that live here, clearly some of them either were strong enough to withstand sunlight or had a way around it,” said Edward as he looked up at the sheets bridging the buildings. “Yet there’s not a single sign that they even fought back or fled. It’s as if they vanished into nothingness. Which, while not impossible for some vampires, means that they are still here waiting for a chance to strike,” said Edward as he hurriedly scanned the world around him, trying not to draw attention to himself with his magic. “But even so I can’t find them.”

Narrowing her eyes, Io knew that while Edward was both being inquisitive and at the same time covering all contingencies, she also wished that he would focus on the demon up ahead.

“The few times that I’ve been here while transporting weapons and other items from Notos, I’ve rarely seen vampires out and about during the day. And the even fewer times that the trains would stop for people to trade with them only a small amount of vampires actually seemed to even care about what it was that was on offer. The vampires probably see this problem as something that can be resolved if they wait for night or they might simply be waiting for us to deal with it so that they don’t have to risk their immortal lives. I truly don’t know, but I do know that if we’re not focused on what comes next and distracted by the whimsical knowledge of passing fancies then we will not survive this,” said Io with a calm force that made Edward refocus more on the threat ahead than the possible creatures lurking in the shadows.

Arriving at their destination, the group slowed down to a crawl before stopping a few streets away.

“I’m going up to have a look,” said Edward as he pointed to the stairs that led up to the flat roofs that made up the entire city.

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“I’ll accompany you,” stated Io with a tone that made it clear any attempt to argue would only be wasting time.

Nodding, both Edward and Io climbed the stairs until they found a significant vantage point from where they could see the summoning ritual. Making sure that neither was high enough to be sticking out across the city, both Edward and Io turned their undivided attention on what was happening while the soldiers below waited with a stillness that masked whatever their hearts were currently feeling.

And what they saw was horrific in both in its otherworldliness and for its mundane nature. In the centre of the city square or whatever the vampires called it, Edward could see a pillar of light rising higher and higher, reaching the sky itself. Yet this light while brilliant to look at, lacked illumination, for there was no searing light that spread outwards, no shadows cast by the light and no other heat or force behind the torrent that seemed to burst ever skywards.

And there surrounding it, were demons, demons that were not being controlled by the Lull that the Demon of Light was singing, instead they loitered around the square as if it were just another day and they were on a particularly boring job.This was the mundane nature that made both Edward and Io hesitate, for the way that they moved and acted so close to something so unnatural made the scene even more bizarre and uncanny.

Scanning over the site, Edward studied everything he could to see what was being used to summon forth the Demon of Light. And when he did, he swore long and hard, with a dark intensity that made Io blink in confusion. Her face slack with surprise at the deluge of words that came out of Edward’s maw and their inherently dark nature made even more intense due to Edward’s demonic voice.

“What did you find?” asked Io with dread, knowing that if it had upset Edward to this degree then whatever it was, was something to fear.

“Around the pillar of light do you see those crosses?” asked Edward as he pointed out the four crosses made of gold, golden crosses, perfectly symmetrical with golden spikes at 45 degree angles between the arms of the cross and a single blue crystal at the centre.

“What are they?” asked Io, already having a sinking suspicion that made her want to doubt what some part of her mind was already trying to confirm to the rest of her senses.

“Tears of Ymir,” snarled Edward in rage as he remembered the torment his brother had endured for just one of these Gold Relics. “It looks like this Demon of Light is using them to create the necessary conditions to travel between worlds, but since there are only four the process is taking far too long, as if the ritual is incomplete.”

“You mean to tell me that those four God Relics are the same type that Ulkry turned an entire town into a corrupted wasteland for,” said Io feeling faintly ill, while a tingling sensation ran up her left hand.

“What I think this means is that Ulkry wasn’t corrupting Symir for his usual hellish endeavour, but to guard the relic from this Demon of Light. Ulkry was trying to prevent the demon from attempting this, but when we took the town back and made the world aware of what had happened we, we...” said Edward as he trailed off as if he couldn’t bear to finish the sentence.

So Io did it for him.

“You made the Demon of Light aware that the Kings of Hell were aware of it and were after him. So Sung rushed the job while at the same time did so in a way that directly insulted and defiled one of Ulkry’s former deeds,” said Io as if she was recalling things from long ago, her voice slightly stiff.

“Yeah,” said Edward with a shocked voice as he went back to looking at the pillar of light all the while his mind turned and sought an answer from the vast collection of knowledge he had found throughout his short life.

“I’ve got the beginnings of a plan,” said Edward with a trace of excitement in his voice. “We stick to what we initially decided and nullify the Lull, but at the same time I’ll need you and your men to do more legwork for me, while I contact my brother to get him to set up a few things on his end,” said Edward, his eyes dancing with excitement as he took what he had learned and shaped it into something wonderful.

Motioning to Edward to leave, the two of them headed down to the still waiting group of soldiers who were waiting with a calm stillness that surprised Edward when he saw them at the bottom of the stairs. For each soldier was still in the same, more or less, position that they had been when Edward had left up the stairs to spy on the Demon of Light. Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Edward quickly glanced around, at every object and into every shadow before speaking to the soldiers before him.

“We’ve got news,” said Edward grimly as given the situation Edward had no intention of wasting effort on not upsetting the humans with his demonic visage.

Wasting no time, Edward explained to the soldiers what needed to be done and what he planned as well as the objectives that their next mission would be broken down into.

“The demons in the square are not under the demon’s Lull, therefore if we cancel it out the Demon of Light won’t notice at least long enough for the next stage to work,” said Edward with enthusiasm.

“Which is?” asked one of the soldiers, a woman with a scarred face yet kind eyes.

“Simple enough really,” said Edward, excited to explain his work and theories. “The God Relics are enabling the Demon of Light to cross into this world. But the celestial power the God Relics are wielding can also be used to cast the demon into the void. All I have to do is disrupt them.”

“What’s the void?” a different soldier asked with a puzzled look.

“The realm world, a reality that exists between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead, a place where nothing survives,” answered Edward happy to help improve the soldiers understanding of the world.

“Huh,” replied the soldier thoughtfully as if the knowledge that there existed a realm in between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead was odd but ultimately a useless piece of trivia.

Frowning at the man, Edward started to draw and show the soldiers what he needed them to create at the locations that he marked on a map. With each of the soldiers having a different map to use, with only their objective marked upon it. Instead of being upset that they had been given only part of what needed to be done, the soldiers’ eyes reflected respect for the young man that stood beside them. Handing each of them a card, Edward said that if they were about to die or simply were unable to reach their destination to destroy or rip the card so that he could know and if necessary redirect others to fulfil the mission.

“I’ll stay here with Io,” said Edward as he glanced at the Colonel who was staring at the map intently. “Once I feel that the runes are being put down, I’ll head up to the top of the abandoned church and use that as my vantage point to work my magic.”

Accepting their mission, the soldiers departed after a quick but heartfelt salute toward not their Colonel but towards the surprised and grateful fellow human, Edward Maw. Scurrying down the streets, the soldiers left Edward and Io behind without a backward glance nor did they make sound as they went, instead they seemed to all but disappear into the city’s maze-like nature. Turning to face Io, Edward’s excitement and joy seemed to fade from him as he looked at her with sad eyes that seemed severely out of place on someone so optimistic and enthusiastic like Edward.

“Io, I’m so sorry,” said Edward, his voice drenched in his sorrow.

“What?” asked Io, uncertainty ringing true in her voice.

“Your shadow, its turning white,” said Edward as if he was telling someone that they were going to die, except in this case the fate of the subject was worse.

Going pale, Io looked down at her own shadow and saw that the left hand side of it was indeed turning white. And as Io stared at the shadow, the whiteness encroached further in a much faster rate as if before it had been taking its time and now was doing what needed to be done as quickly as possible. Looking back at a grief stricken Edward, Io closed her eyes before steeling herself up. The white of her shadow was the same as the pillar of light that reached skywards a few streets away. Their sameness was enough for Io to draw conclusions that told her she was doomed to be possessed by a Demon of Light. Pulling her gun out with her right hand she held it pointing downwards towards the ground, before looking at Edward with a perfect clarity.

“Go end this demon invasion,” said Io in a scary calm voice.

“But…,” said Edward in horror as he realised what she planned to do.

“Go Edward,” said Io with force that made Edward stagger back in shock. “You don’t want to have to see this. Nor should you have to carry the memory of this moment for the rest of your life.”

“I could exorcise you,” said Edward with a return of his usual optimism.

“And endanger every one of my men and women. No, you will not, you will go and cast that Sung into the nothingness and erase it from existence,” said Io even as some part of her wondered how she knew some of these things.

Looking at her with anguished purple eyes, Edward turned around and began to walk away, his back stiff as if he was unable to bear the weight of what he was currently doing. Watching him retreat, Io turned and started to walk in the opposite direction of the abandoned church and the city centre, even as the left side of her body seemed to stagger, as if it were responding to instructions that she had given seconds earlier. Stopping near an alcove where a bunch of barrels were stored and tucked away, Io pulled the gleaming silver polished gun up to look at it before she tried to move it closer so that she could use it to end the threat before it even began.

Only for her right hand not to respond.

“I’m sorry there, little one, but I can’t have such a compatible vessel self destruct on me,” said a voice that echoed through Io’s mind to the point that she felt like she was being crushed against her own skull.

“Who are you?” asked Io, more to stall for time than for any hope that the answer might make her better off.

“I am the Ruler of the Sixth Hell. I am the King of Light. I am Abraxas.”

“Oh,” said Io in shock that something so important was attempting to possess her.

“Yes, little one, and while I am sorry about this, I need your body for something,” said Abraxas pleasantly as if he was talking about borrowing a simple small amount of money or a simple, replaceable tool.

“And what do you need my body for?” asked Io desperately, trying to stall as she fought to move her hand to her head.

“Why I need it to destroy one of my traitorous kin,” said Abraxas without a hint of hate or malice. “You see the moment that Sung was born, he ran from me fearing that I would destroy him. He fled to the heights of the other Hells, those of faith, war and sin. While this could have been forgiven in time, what he did next has made his fate a foregone conclusion. And I am here to make that fate come to pass.”

Feeling a rising sense of dread that soon she would be unable to even influence what her body did, Io spoke once again, despite knowing that with every word she spoke and every time she stopped to listen she lost a little more control of herself.

“Why did Sung fear that he would be destroyed?” asked Io desperately as her mind seemed to grind against her skull as if she was being destroyed simply by being passively inside the same body as Abraxas.

“It was fairly simple. I am an orderly being, in fact that is what light really is, order made tangible, and he feared that I would not take kindly to having more than the decreed number of Demons of Light,” said Abraxas pleasantly with his melodious voice echoing out.

The sheer calmness with which the demon spoke causing Io to grow frantic with fear as she realised why he seemed so familiar. Abraxas, while being completely different from Ivan, had the same sense about him, a sense that no matter what, the task would be completed. Abraxas had the same weight of time as Ivan about it, a sensation that seemed to say that so long as they still desired a set outcome then they could reach it, that the shackles of time were meaningless against them.

“And I decreed that there would only be myself and my set number of demons,” continued Abraxas as he turned to look at the rising pillar of light.

“How many did you allow?” asked Io, aware that just one of these beings needed an army to face indirectly. So depending on the number that Abraxas had chosen, mankind would be doomed if he ever decided to invade the World of Geb.

“One for each day of the year,” said Abraxas with a small nod of satisfaction, before he lifted the gun in his right hand and frowned at it.

“Three hundred and sixty four Demons of Light,” screamed Io as she realised that her fears hadn’t been great enough.

“Three hundred and sixty five, including myself,” corrected Abraxas as he flipped the gun in its hand around before settling on a decision.

“I am sorry, little one, but you will have to share the pain with me, as your weapon is too small to fit what is needed,” said Abraxas with sorrow that he would have to mar flesh in such a disorderly fashion.

Feeling the pain burst through her, Io knew in that moment that whatever hope of destroying this demon she had was but a fool’s dream. For she had failed to even notice that she was no longer the one in control of her own voice and that Abraxas had been talking aloud while she was but a whisper of a thought in his head.

Watching with detached interest, Abraxas carved hellish hieroglyphs into the gun and right arm of Io, creating a mosaic that linked flesh and metal together so that the infernal script flowed from the gun and onto, or perhaps into, Io’s skin. The moment that the hieroglyphs touched her skin and began to meld with her flesh, Io felt pain, beyond words, beyond definition, a pain that was so unlike anything she had ever felt before that there were no words to describe what it was like, only what it was not. The pain was not of a piercing or cutting or crushing sensation. There was no trace of fire or ice or lightning in its nature, nor the horror of poison or corrosives. Instead, the pain was pure and not rooted in flesh but in the soul, and one that would haunt Io forever.

Resisting the urge to crumple and break under the sway of a pain that had no mundane counterpart, Io turned her mind back to the demon that had stolen her body. As she observed him, she could see that through control of her body Abraxas was admiring his work, the demonic script that he had placed upon both her flesh and her gun.

“Why?” cried out Io, her word echoing with the otherworldly pain. “Why use that gun when you could destroy the demon with your own power?” asked Io more to try and focus on something other than the pain that had no tangible source.

“I am sorry little one, but the truth of the matter is that if I were to possess you fully or even try to use my power through you in this incomplete possession, you would rupture and burst if not explode into light itself,” said Abraxas, his tone pleasant but something about his posture made it clear that he was less than pleased that such a limitation shackled him.

“Then what will you do with that gun?” asked Io as her mind seemed to slowly slide back into its normal focus, her mind seeking to find a solution, a chance at victory even when the immutable fate itself held sway on the outcome as she had been taught by Ivan Stein.

“The hybrid child had an interesting idea but in the end, sending Sung back to Hell will be enough for my purposes, and this gun will shoot out a stream of annihilation that will caste my traitorous kin back into Hell,” said Abraxas with a satisfied nod of his head as he took aim in the direction of the summoning ritual.

“What will happen to those caught in the crossfire?” asked Io quietly as she had to admit that letting Abraxas deal with this was a simple and easy solution, with as yet no apparent downsides.

“Oh, I imagine that they will be destroyed by the light,” said Abraxas without giving it too much thought or caring too deeply what Io would do with this knowledge.

“What!” said Io, her mind reeling.

“Come now, little one, surely you have heard the true nature of light from those that you are allied with. The shapers of light, the mages, they must have told you that light can be broken down into matter and antimatter, just like the reverse is possible,” said Abraxas, a little baffled that Io didn’t know this.

“So your gun,” said Io with a dawning horror.

“Yes, but not to the extent that I could perform the task,” said Abraxas with a little pride slipping into his mannerisms. “After all I corrupt the process and allow light to be singularly turned into matter with no antimatter around, and just like in the normal laws of reality the opposite holds true, I can turn matter into energy.”

“Then what happens after that?” asked Io, already feeling the dread spread through her bones, as if she could already hear and know the answer.

“Well that energy needs somewhere to go, so usually there is an explosion,” said Abraxas as if he was giving Io a gift, whereas the knowledge and the idea of what power Abraxas possessed sent Io into near catatonia with fear and dread. “As for this gun, those that are struck by its light will have their matter nullified, annihilating them.”

Turning his attention back on the task before him, Abraxas took aim at the summoning ritual and lifted his gun so that the sights were set on the kinsman beyond the buildings and objects in-between, as if Abraxas could see through solid matter. Yet before Io could try once more to stall the Demon King of Light, something else occurred. A stream of golden energy tore upwards into the sky, its brilliance making Abraxas pause as he turned his vast power to see what had caused the sudden anomaly.

Io, who despite her fear and dread at the horrors that were occurring around her and the one that had taken over her body, had never stopped looking for a moment where she could seize back control over her body and cast out the Demon King of Light. So while Abraxas was looking towards the south east of the town and mumbling about the Demon King of Faith, Io took her chance and attempted to wrest control back.

And the outcome surprised both her and Abraxas.

For in her mental attempts to regain control, she caused Abraxas to swing his left hand back and to the side. That was all that Io could do, and even that had taken a massive amount of mental strength and willpower. Something that Abraxas himself was aware of and seemed to commend Io for, but neither had noticed that the barrels that Io had come to stand next to while her control of her body was eroding were filled with clean pure water.

The moment her tight fist slammed into the barrels, they burst sending water cascading through the air and over the left side of Io’s possessed body. Feeling the water strike the body, both Io and Abraxas paused too shocked by the sudden change of events to prepare for what would happen next.

Abraxas, who had only possessed Io partially due to his vast and impossible to contain nature, had also had to control his power with perfect precision so as to prevent Io, his host from degrading or dying. So the moment that the water struck, was the moment that Abraxas lost control over his possession by only the slightest of quanta. Yet this loss of control was enough to start a supercritical reaction that made Abraxas’s control and finetuned power run rampant.

An outcome that ended up hurting only one person: Io.

The moment that Abraxas’s power and corruption spiralled out of control, his power rebounded into Io and her flesh split. Screaming in agony, Io didn’t even care that she had become the dominant entity in her body, for along every centimetre of her flesh were faint but deep cuts. Appearing at a rate that was beyond instant, Io felt as if the left side of her body was being cut to shreds by an invisible force beyond her power to halt or stop. Even as her flesh was rend by invisible knives in response to coming into contact with water, Io focused on the one task she needed to accomplish.

Regaining control over her right hand, and the demonically powered gun that was welded to said hand, Io not wasting any time began to raise it up. Only for her left hand to snake out and catch it, to hold it back. For Abraxas knew what she intended to do, that she intended to fulfil the mission and destroy the demon that had the greatest chance of destroying her soldiers.

“If you do this you will die and my connection with you will cause your soul to be sucked down into Hell,” stated Abraxas, more to see what Io would do rather than any concern for her soul.

“I don’t care,” snarled out Io as she tried to fight against one half of her own body as she slowly began to aim the demon gun upwards towards her own head. “Killing you will be worth it.”

“My death won’t end Sung’s threat. In fact, it will embolden him to become something even more dangerous to this world. Letting me cast that demon back into Hell and end his existence will ensure that no Demon of Light or any other above or below will ever defy me or mine again,” said Abraxas with a calm that made warning bells ring inside Io’s mind.

“But for how long,” snapped Io as she managed to align the gun so that it was facing upwards.

“You have a point there,” said Abraxas with mild amusement, as if he was aware of something that Io was not. “But I have to point out one thing.”

“And what’s that?” asked Io with some of her more normal dignity, as she placed the end of the gun at the base of her jaw.

“Destroying or killing a demon’s host does not cause the demon to die with said host only to be cast back into Hell,” said Abraxas simply, as if explaining something that should be obvious to anyone with half a mind. “So the real question you should be asking, little one, is ‘are there others nearby that I can possess once you kill yourself and if so will your death be worthless’.”

Hearing this, Io had to admit Abraxas had a point, one that made her stop her finger a few short millimeters away from pulling the trigger. Nonetheless there was something about what Abraxas was saying that made Io wonder if he was tricking her, if somehow the demon wanted her alive not so that he could use her to help him destroy the traitor but for another reason, one that Abraxas was adamant about.

“You might be right in that the two of us together can destroy Sung, but in the end the one that is the true threat to both my comrades and my country is you,” said Io as she edged her finger closer to the trigger while waiting to see what Abraxas was truly angling for.

“No little one, the greatest threat to the country that you love and cherish is you,” said Abraxas with flippant ease. “For your existence and the longer you and I are interconnected prove not only to me but to my kin that we can have a host that sustains us. That they can be made and fashioned and that there are humans strong enough to cast us out. Your existence is the keystone that we have been missing, something we were unable to obtain since the original foundation of the circles of Hell.”

Hearing Abraxas’s explanation, Io felt her eyes go wide at the implication that she was the one thing the Demons of Light would need to figure out a way to possess those that dwell within the World of Geb and ensure that the hosts do not die from the pure power that would wear them like clothes. Standing still unsure of what to do, the left side of her body shredded with thousands of cuts that ran deep, Io felt a tingle run through her from left to right, all the way into her gun hand. And as the sensation flooded through her, Io knew that Abraxas was trying to regain control.

Cursing the demon with all of her soul, Io knew in her bones that whatever Abraxas desired was something that could doom mankind so she steeled herself and placed her finger upon the trigger. Sensing her resolve and the will to sacrifice herself for the rest of her kind, Abraxas whispered to her inside her head even as she pulled the trigger and sent a searing stream of annihilation up into the sky.

“Goodbye little one, and I am sorry but your death was necessary as your existence would have brought chaos to this world and chaos is something I abhor,” said Abraxas sadly into Io’s mind, even as conscious thought evaporated leaving Io with a sense of nothingness and light.

~~~

Edward stood atop the derelict church and looked out at the City of Dead Blood, wondering if just maybe Io had succeeded in driving out the demon that had taken over her body. If by some miracle, she was spared the horror that came with demonic possession. But even as these hopes swirled within Edward, some part of his mind informed him that Io was most likely gone as her shadow had been turning white, a sure sign that Io was being possessed by a Demon of Light.

And so Edward had lied and left things out when he had talked with the soldiers of the Western Army, for even as he had told Io and her soldiers the plan he had been aware that a Demon of Light was slowly invading her body. So, he had spun forth a fable about using the void to destroy the demon, Sung, as Io had called it. Something he couldn’t do, nor even if he could would he want to. As everything Edward had ever read, about the void, was adamant about one thing. The void brought nothingness to those that got too close.

Checking on the cards that had been deployed around the city, Edward could feel the magic slowly spread around, performing his will and sabotaging the demons that had been forced to bow to Sung. Edward’s magic was simple. Instead of creating a magic that instantly removed the Lull from the demons, Edward made it so that it was a gradual process. For Edward’s magic was a darkness, an oblivion, that crept through their minds devouring the music that had enthralled them.

And instead of targeting the human wearing demons first, Edward had chosen to use his magic initially on the Demons of Life and Earth. That way they would run amuck and disrupt all the defensive efforts that the demons were using to prevent his brother and the army around him from entering the city. This chaos and fear that the humans were winning would be the perfect way to make sure that, as the demons slowly regained their senses and own individuality, they would not only be wary, but the gradual realisation about what had been done to them would make the revolution something subtle and hidden. All because the demons would fear that they might once again be taken over by the Demon of Light.

Turning his mind from the demons, Edward had to admit that despite his own expectations, the elite soldiers that Io had chosen were all extremely capable individuals who had placed the runes and circles that he had needed without incident, but somewhere in the back of his mind Edward had to wonder if something else was at play. Or more specifically if someone else was at work behind the scenes ensuring that the tasks Edward had assigned were being completed on schedule. Thinking this, Edward knew that it wasn’t Grey who had been helping the soldiers as his riot in the other parts of the city were something everyone seemed to pick up on, which only left Jane.

Edward hadn’t seen her since he had entered the city, but Edward knew that she was clever enough to figure out that he was setting something up. She possessed enough mobility to enable her to escape from any demons if they became too great of a threat, which was why Edward surveyed the city hoping to spot her and see what she was up to. Edward didn’t see something that would help, instead he heard the sound of something that seemed to hollow him out with regret, a sound of a gunshot that echoed across the city, a sound which also brought with it the sight of a pillar of light stretching upwards towards the sky.

Feeling different emotions as he beheld the pillar of light, Edward had to wonder if Io had somehow cast out the demon and this was the end result or if this pillar of light was a signal to the rest of the demons present that something powerful had arrived, either to help or hinder the demon, Sung. Contemplating which of the options the light signified, Edward felt a stir in his magic, one that signified something else, something that made him turn his purple eyes towards the summoning ritual in dread.

For from the frenzied activity amongst the demons that surrounded the ritual, it was clear that the Demon of Light that had shot out that stream of light was no friend to Sung, a fact that was reinforced when Edward felt his magic distort. The distortion was immediately obvious to Edward when he investigated, for the Lull that the magic was meant to counteract had disappeared, because Sung had stopped singing.

This fact alone was enough for Edward to start to panic, but seeing that the Demon of Light seemed to be thrashing in a vain attempt to get summoned even faster, Edward knew that if a Demon of Light was afraid, then what the demon feared, so too should all of them fear, even if for entirely different reasons.

Sending out these facts to his brother, Edward immediately activated the secondary function he had hidden into the magical array he had had the army create. Edward was able to create a sanctuary from which clerics, paladins and seraphim in general were able to use to fight, so Edward had repurposed the idea to create something else, but at the same time something similar. Sending out his cards so that they swirled through the sky as if they were creating a column that led up to the end of the sky, Edward knew that he could never ever hope to fuel the creation with his meagre prana reserves, even when they were at their maximum count. But with the nearby golden road and the telesma flowing through it, the issue of magical energy became so trivial that Edward dared to think grander than what any other cleric had ever tried.

Feeling that Lillian had altered the road and sent the telesma flowing up into the sky like a fountain of golden light and dust, Edward used the cards and the runes placed around the city to draw the telesma from the sky and into the unending upward spiral making a tower of golden light that seemed to reach up to Heaven itself. Sensing the connection snap into place, Edward stepped up to the edge of the derelict church and howled in victory as the golden light spinning like a million stars intensified into a shining pillar of golden energy, energy that healed and restored and purified corruption.

The various demons that inhabited the City of Dead Blood stared upward in stupefied wonder that left many gaping at the sky, unaware of the destruction that would befall them. No longer needing to fuel or even control the creation that he had made, Edward noted that some of the demons, especially those near the summoning ritual were already aware of what was happening and were either trying to flee or were breaking down laughing as if their imminent doom was a thing of mirth. Yet to those that laughed at their own demise, Edward felt a certain respect, for these demons didn’t try to flee from the fate, instead they went into it laughing. While for those that tried to flee and survive, Edward felt pity, knowing that their efforts would end in nothing but tragedy for the demons if not their hosts.

Feeling that the magic was finally kicking in after it had achieved a semblance of stability, Edward would have smiled if he had the face muscles to do the deed. A sanctuary was simply just another church, a temple that linked the space inside with the power of Heaven and its natural ability to heal and cleanse, and now this space filled with thousands of demons had become a sanctuary. This meant that the City of Dead Blood, now a sanctuary was on par with the holy cities of the Empire of Geb, and each and every demon inside the city’s boundaries was being assailed with the power of Heaven.

The demons were being exorcised from their hosts en masse. Some went willingly to spare themselves the pain, while others fought tooth and nail to remain inside their hosts, an effort which left them screaming and writhing on the ground. Nodding in satisfaction, Edward turned to look at the demon, Sung who had started screaming in pain as he could not return to Hell as the ritual constantly pulled him towards Geb, while the telesma infused air seared and irradiated the Demon of Light, causing the demon constant pain and agony.

Looking down at the courtyard and the demons that still writhed on the ground in defiance, Edward summoned forth the remaining cards secreted on his person before jumping down to help send the demons along.

~~~

Waking up to a golden swirling starry brilliance, Io looked upwards from her position on her back, her eyes filling with wonder as she realised that not only was she still alive, but that she had somehow survived and drove the King of Hell out of her body. Feeling waves of pain tearing through her, Io was surprised to find that at the same time she was feeling like she was being healed at the same rate that her body was degrading. Yet what surprised her more was when a new face slipped into view, a face adorned with red eyes and white hair that made her surprisingly beautiful.

“Hello,” said Io in surprised reflex, a greeting that got a smile in response.

“Hello, Colonel, we were hoping that you were still alive or else we were thinking about offering some of our blood to help heal you,” said the vampire with a smile that revealed her fanged teeth. “Sorry where are my manners, my name’s Lucy, Lucy Walker.”

“That’s okay,” said Io as she tried to cast the pain that fogged up her mind from her head, a task that she was failing at. “Did you see what happened?”

“Yes and we heard most of it,” said Lucy with a smile upon her luscious lips, her beauty enhanced by the colour of her face, both the red eyes and the white hair complementing her rather than detracting like Io thought they would.

“Oh, what did you hear?” asked Io a little shocked at the idea that the vampire had heard her speak to Abraxas.

“That you have a soul of molten steel, one of true worth and one that should not have to be lost to death,” said Lucy as she stretched forth a hand to caress Io’s face, something that Io didn’t stop until she saw that Lucy’s hand was dyed in crimson blood.

“We’re going to have to talk about that at a later point, for now what can you tell me about what’s happening to my army?” asked Io as she tried to stir from her position on the street where she had fallen, after pulling the trigger.

“They are winning, but if you want to be there when they achieve victory then I suggest you let us help you,” said Lucy as she looked down at Io, making Io realise that Lucy had placed Io’s head in her lap.

“Us,” echoed Io as she blinked up at Lucy uncomprehending.

Looking forward, Io turned her head to the left and saw the street lined with various different vampires, some of them cloaked in red robes that shrouded the vampires beneath in darkness that only was pierced by the light of their red eyes. While other vampires wore almost nothing, just plain white robes that barely covered the important parts, their skin tanned as if they bathed in the sun regularly, and their bodies bearing strange talismans that made Io’s eyes twitch as if she were looking into light.

Seeing the massed vampires, Io turned to look at Lucy who was clothed in armour that covered her body in a way that emphasised her figure in a way that only organic armour could. Seeing the bloodmetal first hand, Io had to focus her eyes several times to make sure she was seeing the living, solid blood seem to pulse with life. Shaking her head to relieve herself of stray thoughts and to clear her mind of pain, Io tried to get up only to feel her right hand was unresponsive and the left side of her body was aching in a way that nearly mirrored the pain the hieroglyphs had caused when they had been first applied.

“I wouldn’t do that,” said Lucy gently as she held a hand to Io to prevent the colonel from trying to rise. “Let us heal you and then we can finish this together.”

Feeling that her body was becoming even more unresponsive, Io nodded her head, all the while wondering and perhaps fearing that the vampires might try to convert her into one of their own kin.

“Quincy,” said Lucy commanding one of her brethren to help the human in her lap, her eyes never leaving Io’s face.

Stepping forward, one of the vampires reached out his hands and started to heal Io with mana in the same manner that any mage would. His body was shrouded in a red robe that prevented Io from seeing anything, but the hands that extended out from the robe were hands adorned with wizard gloves.

“Can you use this hand?” asked Lucy as she picked up Io’s right hand and brought it into Io’s view.

Seeing her hand covered in black, with almost burn-like marks, Io’s face twitched as she fought back the fear that she would lose the arm, but that single moment of fear was enough for her trigger finger to flex ever so slightly. Watching with her red glowing eyes, Lucy smiled a seductively beautiful smile that made Io’s attention naturally switch back to her.

“We vampires have lived here for ages upon ages back to the founding of this town, when the gods roamed the land in numbers beyond count,” said Lucy as if she was remembering the ages that she spoke of. “So believe us when we say we want this demon to die screaming, for daring to attack our home.”

“Then why didn’t you fight back before?” snapped Io in pain as she could feel that her wounds were melding back together as if they were being stitched.

Not taking offense to the words, Lucy’s smile turned bitter as if she was not too fond of what she was about to say.

“This town holds deep connections to Ulkry,” said Lucy with a small laugh at the words as if they were funny to those that got the joke, “so we waited for him to deal with his problem, as a courtesy. And we are not really optimised to deal with demons especially in these numbers, so it took some time to prepare, not to mention we tried to contact both the Elemental Guard, and your Western General, but that proved troublesome.”

Hearing this, Io had to wonder in the back of her mind how these vampires knew Ivan, but before she could say anything, the vampire that was healing her spoke up.

“The wounds are sealed, but the corruption lacing her body is making healing her harder than it should be, so I suggest you do what needs to be done before you get her back to another healer,” said Quincy, his voice deep and commanding.

Nodding her head, Lucy helped Io to her feet, the two of them with arms wrapped around each other so that Io could stand. And as Io stood, she couldn’t help but notice that as Lucy stepped into the pool of blood she had created, that the blood seemed to be absorbed by Lucy’s high heeled, combat footwear.

“Let’s go hunt down this Demon of Light,” said Io as she looked around to get her bearings, her voice filled with a blood thirst that was impossible to miss.

Looking at Io as she supported her, Lucy’s lips parted in surprise before she spoke, “oh, I think I really like you.”

Frowning at the words, Io gave Lucy a quick glance wondering at the context of the words before focusing back on the Demon of Light whose screams were a beacon that called the colonel to its location.

“What of the other demons that still linger?” asked the vampire mage as he stood in between the rest of the vampires and the duo before him.

“Herd them back into the city so that Edward’s magic can finish its task,” said Io with relish at the thought of the demons in pain, bringing her joy while aware that the official mission was for them to liberate the vessels from the demons.

Hearing this, the vampiric mage huffed out a laugh before seeming to twist and collapse into a floating pool of blood that then turned into a cascading mist that flowed down to the ground and into a nearby sewer grate. The sewer grate was interconnected with thousands of pipes that spanned the city, allowing vampires to travel all throughout the city, without being exposed to sunlight.

Seeing the vampire called Quincy disappear, the other vampires standing further down the street started to shift and change too, some becoming mist while others took on the forms of creatures blessed with flight. Most notably amongst them a black hawk with red tipped wings. Flying off into the sky, the hawk let out a cry that the rest of the vampires echoed, all of them sounding impossibly savage and wild before the vampires seemed to pour out every crack and cranny to grab and bind the demons that held on under the tempest of golden telesma.

Seeing his brother’s work spiral into the sky, Aleister had to share a smile with Lillian and several of the other humans that had helped him set up the symbols and runes needed to make this magic work. Standing tall, the two looked at the vortex that stretched up to the sky, a vortex made of golden motes of light that seemed to reach up into a place more brilliant than the mortal eye could handle. Feeling his mind being gently touched, Aleister looked at Lillian in surprise before concentrating to allow her access to his mind, all the while keenly aware that Edward was the one that truly controlled their mental bond.

“I suggest you go in and congratulate your brother. He just did something world defining, something that he will be remembered for, for the rest of time,” said Lillian telepathically with a smile on her face and something like pride leaking into Aleister’s mind, a sentiment that Aleister shared with all of his heart. “Also I suggest when you go into that city, lead the army in as well. So that they can not only liberate it, but also take care of the human hosts that are still inside the city.”

Giving Lillian a look as she stared at Aleister waiting for him to act, Aleister had to sigh before he stepped forward, his movements causing the rest of the army soldiers around him to stop and take notice of what he was doing. Watching with a calm patience that marked out how well they had trained to control themselves in battle, the soldiers of the Western Army parted to let Aleister come to stand before them, his back to them as he looked out at the City of Dead Blood. Turning with a swiftness that made a few of the soldiers shift in anticipation and battle trained reflex, Aleister looked at the assembled army before him and spoke.

“We have obtained victory. We have done what many would consider impossible, so let us go reclaim this city for the Empire of Geb, and when we do, treat those you find in the city as best as you can. Transport those free of demonic possession back out of the city if possible and those that you find with demons, still in them, carry them to the summoning ritual in the city centre. Once there, we’ll purge the demons from their bodies,” said Aleister as he started to issue orders for medical stations to be set up to deal with those that had suffered under demonic possession. While also ordering and organising those that would accompany him into the city with what they needed to do to ensure that they would survive any surprises that the demons might still have in store.

The moment everything was in order, Aleister and the army of mankind marched into the city of vampires to subdue the demons that still lingered there, while evacuating the humans that had been freed from the nightmares born from Hell itself.

~~~

Escorted by two vampires that appeared to be immune to the effects of sunlight, Jane Burnout entered the centre of the city where a pillar of light shone up into the sky. All the while said pillar screamed in pain and fear as thousands of golden motes flowed around the pillar like it was the axis of the telesma vortex.

Looking around in curiosity, Jane saw that there were numerous humans laying on the ground each and every one of them groaning and in pain, as the demons inside of them held onto their hosts with the tenacity of someone dangling from a cliff. Switching her attention away from the demons, Jane saw that the vampires and army soldiers milled around the courtyard while standing close to the screaming pillar of light, where the rest of the God Squad were. Striding towards Aleister and the rest, Jane left her vampire escorts behind, who in turn headed over to a vampire draped in a blood red robe. As Jane arrived next to her companions, who stood the closest to the screaming pillar of light, the rest of the God Squad turned their attention to Jane having taken note of the fact that she had been escorted by vampires.

“Glad to see that you’re alright,” said Aleister as way of greeting, his voice ringing with sincerity, an emotion and sentiment that Edward shared with a happy glint in his eyes.

“I see that we won,” said Jane as she looked at the pillar of light before her.

Snorting more from amusement than anything else, Grey smiled with a razor sharp ferocity that made Jane frown back at the madman.

“You all might have won, but I now know that I’m back to square one. The demon that I seek isn’t this coward nor was it any other Demon of Light. I was hoping...” said Grey before trailing off, his eyes growing distant and lost as if he didn’t know where to look for the path that he needed to walk.

“If it wasn’t a Demon of Light then it could have been one of the Forsaken from the Seventh Hell, or even one of the Fallen,” said Lillian, taking pity on the lost and forlorn looking Grey who stared vacantly at the pillar of light. “I hear that they have been able to escape from their respective Hells and find their way into vessels.”

Glancing at Edward and Aleister, Jane could see that they were looking back and forth between themselves as if they were conversing with each other. Shifting her eyes back to Lillian, Jane knew from the slight curve to Lillian’s lips that she was most likely talking to the Maw Brothers at the same time as she was trying to focus Grey so that he wouldn’t flare into madness that would break them all.

“Speaking of vessels, I heard some of the vampires talking while heading over here. Is it true about Io?” asked Jane as she scanned the courtyard to find the colonel and see for herself if she had truly cast out a Demon of Light.

“It is and she did,” said Lillian, her bronze eyes gleaming in the strange light of the screaming demon. “A feat such as that is not something to be lied about, in fact, it is not something to be paraded around either,” said Lillian with such a majesty and wisdom burning through her that Jane had to blink several times to dispel the sheer charisma that for a brief second made Lillian something to cower before.

Hearing Lillian’s words, Jane and the Maw Brothers nodded their heads while Grey looked on with sadistic delight as the Demon of Light let loose another howl of pain. Grimacing, the five of them turned to regard the pillar of light next to them. Staring up at the demon, Jane had to ask a question that many others immediately listened into, as they too wanted to know the truth of their victory.

“Did you plan for all of this or did you make it up as you went along?” asked Jane, her voice neither commending nor condemning the truth of either truth.

“A bit of both really,” said Edward with a deep sigh, as he used his magic to speak in a normal human voice. “The original plan was for me to enter, see what the ritual entailed and then use my vast knowledge of different magic systems to figure out a way to destroy the ritual. But you know what they say about the plans of men,” said Edward with a bit of a laugh.

“That the Gods of Chaos are constantly rolling the die until they win,” said Grey from the sidelines, his voice cutting through the good cheer that Edward had managed to inject into the environment.

Looking sourly at Grey, Aleister nudged his brother to continue.

“Right, well the plan after knowing how to break the ritual was to have the Demons of Earth and Life rebel en masse, with several of the humanoid demons also rebelling by inaction, all due to being set free from the Lull. And when Sung here sent his loyal comrades to deal with the military incursion and loss of control of the demons, I and the others would come in and destroy the ritual while at the same time setting up a heavenly circle that would enable me to exorcise all the demons,” said Edward as he straightened, for while he wasn’t able to show it on his face, his body language spoke about how proud he was at having come up with the plan that would have worked, had the Tears of Ymir not been involved.

“At least he helped out and was able to adjust to his plan on the fly,” said Io as she came within speaking distance of the God Squad.

Following after Io were several vampires, some in very revealing attire, while others wore armour that moved and hugged their bodies to an absurd degree. Seeing that Jane was shaking her head subconsciously at the sight of their clothing, Lucy Walker in turn looked at Jane’s own revealing uniform, especially the sarashi, assessing, appreciating and admiring what was on display.

“Where were you?” asked Io as she waved her right hand at Jane, the gun still fused and welded to her hand.

“I was below the city in the catacombs,” said Jane with a burning smile that caused her hair to crackle like fire.

“Were you setting explosive runes to destroy all above it?” asked Lucy Walker as she spoke up from behind Io.

Stunned Io and the rest of the God Squad all turned to look at Jane, their expressions ranging from amused delight to concerned shock to wonderstruck admiration.

“What?” asked Io as she looked back at Lucy before swinging her gaze to Jane who was in turn looking at Lucy with a raised eyebrow.

“You would reveal your secrets to outsiders,” stated Jane, her words, more thinking out loud than an actual true question.

“Those that command you, Ivan, Argon, Rin, even Arthur, are aware even if they don’t know all the details that the City Of Dead Blood is not one that is built horizontally but vertically,” said Lucy as she looked at the woman before her, at Jane who had once been a little girl who had worn flames like they were just ordinary clothes.

Turning to look at Jane seeking answers, the Maw Brothers bore identical looks of confusion while Lillian stared at Lucy with regally contained disgust.

“Yes, I was aware that the city here is but the tip of the iceberg, with about 90% of the city below our feet. The top is only for those capable of standing in daylight and those that adore the stars,” said Jane as she looked at Lucy, her green eyes daring Lucy to contradict her. “So I entered the city, found the area below the ritual and carved explosive runes into the roof of the caves. Rituals like that are usually designed to resist damage and tampering, but most tend to neglect the area below the ritual only thinking horizontally and vertically skywards.”

Looking down at the ground and the area around her, Lillian nodded her head as if to say without speaking that Jane’s plan would have worked.

“But how? You would either need to power the runes yourself or store the mana somewhere, and even then you wouldn’t have enough mana to do either,” said Io as she seemed to go over her knowledge of mana that she had acquired using a wizard’s glove, “so unless you had crystals filled with mana hidden everywhere on your person how could you have done this and succeeded?”

“You forget, Io,” said Jane as she stepped closer to the colonel who had endured the horrors of possession. “We’re in the middle of a desert created by some magically endowed being altering the terrain. Regardless of who changed the world and made this impossible desert, they gave me more than enough sand to make as many glass prisms as I wanted. And while glass isn’t the best for storing mana, if even salt crystals can store mana then so can the glass shards I created from my fire, all of which can be used to fuel my runes.”

“But how did you generate enough mana for the crystals?” asked Edward, eager once more to learn the new and undiscovered facets of magic.

“Simple, I had my staff,” said Jane as she caressed her staff up and down with her hand, causing the runes that ran along the staff to pulse with mana showing that the staff was more than a weapon, being also an item to boost Jane’s magic. It was a generator of mana and something that would enable her to create magic beyond what a normal human mage could do with only flesh and blood.

“So now that you know that you always held victory in your hand, what are you going to do with this thing?” asked Lucy as she looked at the streaming light that seemed to be writhing in agony and in a vain attempt to escape its predicament, only for her face to crease ever so slightly in concern. “Why hasn’t he manifested yet?”

“Because like all demons, they have trouble possessing that which dwells near and within a church aligned with Heaven. And currently, courtesy of Edward Maw, we are all inside one of the most powerful churches in the Empire of Geb,” said Grey with a mixture of a teacher helping a student learn and a madman enjoying the ignorance of his allies. “That’s why the Demons of Faith are to be hunted and destroyed on site, because when they weaken and cause churches to fall, they make the world that much more susceptible to the ravages of Hell and its denizens.”

Hearing the hate and madness in his voice, the vampires shifted fearing that Grey might lash out at the demon somehow causing things to go awry.

“So what are you going to do with him?” asked a nameless man with red hair and glowing cyan eyes, a man that caused Lillian to look around in shock and fear, as a half heard memory told her to run.

“We’re…,” said Io, her voice dripping with a steely rage as she eyed the screaming demon, “we’re going to cast him back into Hell and let Abraxas devour him whole.”

Hearing his fate, Sung let out a wail even as Grey’s face seemed to split into a ravenous smile, while the Maw Brothers looked on with heavenly grace knowing that it was the right thing to do.

“Then let all of Hell see this, and know what they challenge when they face humanity,” said Lillian as she looked around at the strewn demons groaning in pain.

Hearing this, the humans, the military of Geb grabbed the demons and raised them up so that they could see the pillar of light that had stolen their freedom from them and forced them to come here to this city. Raising her gun up, Io felt the gun cock and knew that her next shot would be infused with all the same power as the one that had carved a black, burnt crevasse up the right side of her face, just barely missing her right eye.

Watching with horror, the demons saw the woman who had cast the King of Light from her body, the woman who had stolen a demonic weapon from a king of Hell, point and pull the trigger, causing a second screaming stream of light to engulf the first, casting Sung back down into Hell. Seeing this, the demons knew the truth of humanity. They knew that the first Demon of Light to ever invade Geb had been crushed by the truest trait of mankind. Something that mankind always sought, the drive that made them create ways to cheat Death itself, the single most common emotion that humanity possessed: the desire for victory.

For in that moment, as Sung’s summoning ritual shattered and was engulfed in light, while under the eyes of a thoughtful raven, as vampires ancient and older than the hills looked on, as angels watched from across the veil of worlds, even as demons fled their hosts, all knew that when chaos came calling mankind could and would become victory incarnate.